“Is That Me Yelling? A parents guide to getting your kids to cooperate without loosing your cool” was published in 2013 and is available in 5 different languages. It’s a best seller in China, but here in the US you can only get it now on Kindle until the next addition.
If you would like to set up a presentation or training for your child’s preschool or your workplace, you can contact me at .
Is That Me Yelling? is:
“Engaging and practical, humorous and evidence-based, prescriptive but not preachy, authoritative yet never stuffy, Is That Me Yelling? quickly rises to the top of the many parenting books I’ve ever read. Rona Renner provides thoughtful and achievable solutions. If you’re a parent who has ever yelled at your kid and wished you hadn’t, this book is for you.”
—Stephen P. Hinshaw, PhD, professor in the department of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley; and vice-chair of psychology at the University of California, S.F.
“Is That Me Yelling? is a complete and compassionate companion for every parent and educator. With excellent examples from her extensive professional and personal experience, nurse Rona illustrates fundamental psychological principles and functional parenting practices with empathy and enthusiasm.”
—Marisol Muñoz-Kiehne, PhD, clinical psychologist, parent educator, radio host, and author.
Children Under Stress
There is collective trauma in our nation, with the Covid-19 pandemic and the horrific gun violence epidemic. With the recent shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde, and Tulsa, people are once again dealing with the deep pain of loss, grief, anger, and fear. The trauma of gun violence impacts all of us, but our children are suffering in ways that are so hard to witness. What can teachers, parents, and all adults do to lessen the burden?
Listen now to About Health, KPFA—94.1FM (6/6/22)
https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=380356
What you are doing to help the children in your life during this painful time?
Guest:
Julie Kurtz is a child and family therapist and national speaker consulting and training on trauma and resilience. She is the Founder and CEO for the Center for Optimal Brain Integration® which promotes the concept of optimal brain integration to maximize human growth potential.
Julie is the co-author of—Trauma-Informed Practices for Early Childhood Educators: Relationship-Based Approaches that Support Healing and Build Resilience in Young Children, Culturally Responsive Self-Care Practices for Early Childhood Educators, Trauma Informed Practices for Early Childhood Leaders: Creating and Sustaining Healing and Engaged Organizations, and Trauma-Responsive Family Engagement in Early Childhood: Practices for Equity and Resilience. She is also the author of the award winning children’s books, Understanding My Brain: Becoming Human(E)! (Ages 4-8 and 5-10). Julie is the creator of the phone/tablet Application (APP) Trigger Stop: Sensory and Emotional Check-in designed specifically for children ages 3-8 years to promote sensory and emotional literacy and to support self-regulation. To learn more go to https://www.optimalbrainintegration.com/.
The Parent Trap
Listen to About Health (5/9/22)-KPFA.org 94.1FM
**https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=378930**
There is an unreasonable expectation placed on parents, and it’s time to advocate for better policies for the health and well being of all children. Economist Nate Hilger argues that the solution to many of our nation’s biggest social and economic problems is within reach. “We must provide richer professional support to parents in the form of greater access to teachers, tutors, counselors, coaches, and health care workers.” Nate Hilger will share highlights from his forthcoming book The Parent Trap: How to Stop Overloading Parents and Fix Our Inequality Crisis, in which he shows why parenting is harder and more important than previously understood and what it will take to get parents the resources they need to set up all children for success.
Guest:
Nate Hilger is a researcher and writer, and author of The Parent Trap. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University and a PhD in economics from Harvard University. He has worked as a professor of economics at Brown University, and is currently an economist and data scientist in Silicon Valley and an affiliate of the Population Studies and Training Center at Brown. In 2020 he served as a lead policy consultant on early childhood and non-K12 child development issues for Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign. His academic research on child development and inequality has been published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics and other leading peer-reviewed journals, and has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post and other major media outlets. He lives with his wife and son in Redwood City, California. You can read more about The Parent Trap in the SF Chronicle or The Hill.
Reflecting on Chinese Medicine
Listen now to KPFA.org 94.1FM 4/18/22
https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=377493
Joining me was Thuy Nguyen, a new producer/host on About Health.
“Connection is at the heart of Chinese medicine—the understanding that everything is connected internally as well as externally. Internally, mind-body-spirt. Externally, person-family-community. That is why we say: Heal Yourself, Heal Your Community. The awareness of our inseparable connection brings home the influence of our well-being on the community and the well-being of the community on us. We are all in this together. When you heal, we heal.”—Berkeley Community Acupuncture. 
Guest
Thuy Nguyen has been practicing Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for over 20 years and is the founder and director at Berkeley Community Acupuncture, a clinic making TCM widely accessible. She is also the creator of the Navajo Healing Project, a unique project aimed at introducing TCM to the Dine community in a way that is relevant, healing and empowering. Thuy is a maker and a mother of 3 teenagers and 2 dogs. In addition, she produces radio shows for About Health on KPFA.org. At the heart of all she does is the desire to illuminate our inseparable connection to Nature and one another, and to offer an understanding of ourselves and our well-being that is empowered and life affirming.
Gut Health And Your Microbiome
**Listen now to About Health, 4/4/22—KPFA.org—94.1FM**
https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=376632
We explored gut health and how your microbiome plays a vital role in digestion and the health and regulation of the immune system.Your gut microbiome is made up of trillions of bacteria, fungi and other microbes—essentials for your physical and emotional health. Learn about the gut-brain connection and why it’s so important to understand what the underlying causes are of your symptoms.
Guest:
Dr. Peter Kozlowski did his residency in Family Practice, but started training in Functional Medicine as an intern. He has devoted his career to helping uncover the underlying cause of chronic disease through Functional Medicine. He is the author of “Unfunc Your Gut: Boost Your Immune System, Heal Your Gut, and Unlock Your Mental, Emotional and Spiritual Health.” His expertise is in gut health, but he also works with food sensitivities, hormone imbalances, detoxing from toxic chemicals such as heavy metals and mold, and mental, emotional, and spiritual health. He serves patients in person and online via his Montana- and Chicago-based practices. Learn more at www.doc-koz.com.
Medical Aid In Dying
Do you believe you should have the right to choose when you die, if your illness is beyond any hope of meaningful recovery?
Listen now to About Health (3/14/22) KPFA.org— 94.1FM
**https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=375200**
Medical aid in dying is a practice that allows a terminally ill adult who is mentally capable, and who has a prognosis of six months or less to live, to request a prescription for medication from their doctor. They can then decide if they want to take the medication to die peacefully. This is an end of life option that is available in California, as well as other places across the country. Join me and my guest Samantha Trad, from Compassion and Choices.
Guest:
Samantha Trad is the National Director of Care Advocacy for Compassion and Choices. In this role, she works to expand patient-centered and patient-directed end-of-life care across the country, which includes makingsure people have the tools they need to plan for a possible dementia diagnosis and other serious illness. She is also an expert on implementing medical aid in dying laws and leads education and outreach efforts to eliminate barriers for eligible patients who want the option of medical aid in dying. Before working at Compassion & Choices, she taught American Politics at the University of Redlands and was the Executive Director of the Arizona Advocacy Network. Samantha has a Bachelor’s of Art in Political Science from the University of Redlands and Master’s of Art in International Economic and Political Studies from Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.